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GB/SEDIMENTOLOGY
By: Admin Date: February 2, 2017, 6:26 pm
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Experiments In Stratification
youtube.com/watch?v=6pU8FO7gvWY
Part 1: youtube.com/watch?v=5PVnBaqqQw8
Part 2: youtube.com/watch?v=1OkC7jJbPmo
Part 3: youtube.com/watch?v=hhM22cLaVps
Current at 1m/s => stratum of fine\larger\fine sediments.
Current slowed by half => 2nd similar stratum/first stratum.
Current sped back to 1m/s => 3rd similar stratum.
Part 4: youtube.com/watch?v=Fp9NbsqWhho
---
Guy Berthault
III. Geology.y
HTML http://sedimentology.fr
Coming to Geology the other major discipline where illusions
have had just as great implications: Geology. Its founder
Nicolas Stenon who proposed proceeding in a very precise and
ordered way according to the method of Descartes in 1667 defined
the foundation of geology in his work Canis Calchariae.[1] He
interpreted the superposition of strata as a succession of
sedimentary deposits. From this he deduced in Prodromus the
principles of stratigraphy. These were : superposition,
continuity and original horizontality of strata, which are the
basis of the relative geological time-scale.
Charles Lyell defined absolute chronology. In 1828 he travelled
to Auvergne and examined the fresh water foliated rocks. As the
foliated strata or laminæ of less than a millimeter were said
to be annual de- posits, he realized the total (230 meters)
would take thousands of years to form. In his « Principles of
Geology » (1832) he noted that there was a 5 per cent renewal
of the fauna during the « ice age ». Assuming a constant
renewal (uniformitarian hypothesis) it would take twenty times
longer for a « revolution » of the fauna to be produced. Now,
Lyell calculated four revolutions since the end of the
secondary era and eight others for the time before since the
beginning of the primary era. As his contemporaneous James
Croll, estimates, for astronomical reasons that glacial time
lasted one million years, Lyell fixed to 240 million years the
base of the primary. This figure was increased by radiometric
dating to 560 million in the 20th century. It was this
succession of species over a very long time that led Darwin to
formulate his theory in his “Origin of the Species” in 1859. It
was the natural selection of the species by the struggle for
existence that produced evolution over time.
Two years later, Karl Marx wrote to Lassalle: The book of Darwin
is very significant. It shows that class warfare in history has
its foundation in natural science. Also Engels in “Ludwig
Feuerbach and the end of the German philosophy” wrote: The
general demonstration made for the first time by Darwin was that
all the products of nature around us now, including men, are
the result of a long process of development from a small number
of unicellular germs originally, and that these, in turn,
stemmed from a protoplasm or from an albuminoidal body
constituted from chemicals. From this “discovery” of Darwin he
deduced a law of the evolution of societies : But what is true
concerning nature, recognized equally as a process of historic
development, is true also for the history of society in all its
branches and all sciences which concern human things (and
divine). (Marx, Engels, Etudes philosophiques, Ed.Sociales,
pp.213-214).
Scientific socialism therefore proceeds from Darwin as does,
national-socialism which with its advocacy for Aryan racial
supremacy. Hence the Gulag, and the Shoah with its death toll
of over 60 million.
The historical geology founded on the interpretation of Stenon
remains unproven, because there were no witnesses to the
stratification. It was this fact that led me in 1970 to develop
an experimental program to study the formation of strata. In
sedimentary rocks there are strata or laminæ of millimetric
thickness similar to those observed by Lyell mentioned above. I
took a sample (fig. 1) of « Fontainebleau sandstone »
containing these laminæ . They were loosely cemented. I reduced
the rock to its component particles of different sizes.
I fed the sand into a glass tube (fig. 2) and saw the same
laminæ form as those in the sample. The speed of sedimentation
was determined by the operator. I understood that the
phenomenon could be due to the sand being a powder whose
mechanics are intermediate between liquids and solids. If, in a
tube, three solid bodies are dropped successively, they will
dispose in the order of their succession. Whilst if three
liquids of different densities are dropped such as mercury, oil
and water, they will superpose in the de- creasing order of
their densities due to the effect of gravity. It can be
expected, therefore, that gravity will cause the particles to
sort out according to their size. Lamination is a mechanical
phenomenon not chronological. In consequence the thousands of
laminæ observed by Lyell did not correspond to hundreds of
thousands of years.
The report of the experiments was presented to the French
Academy of Sciences by Professor Georges Millot, director of
the Strasbourg Institute of Geology, dean of the University,
then President of the Geological Society of France. The latter
published my report in 1986.[2]
Following the publication the Professor had me admitted to the
Geological Society as a sedimentologist. I did the same
experiment with the rock sample containing fossils. The result
was the same. It was also published by the French Academy in
1988[3] presented by Gorges Millot.
Figure 1 – sample of diatomite
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Figure-1-sample-of-<br
/>diatomite.png
What happens with thick strata?
A report entitled Bijou Creek Flood[4] published in the USA,
authored by the American Geologist Edwin Mac Kee, referred to
the stratified deposits on the banks of the Bijou Creek river.
They resulted from the flood of the river from the Rocky
Mountains following the melting snow increased by the rain. The
phenomenon lasted less than 48 hours. With the continuity of
the torrent, it could not be supposed that a first strata had
hardened into rock before a second had covered it as required
by the principle of superposition. The strata were approximately
10 cm thick (see figure 3).
Figure 2. Lamination from dry flow
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-1-Lamination-<br
/>resulting-229x300.jpg
To explain the phenomenon, the fact that the flood had reached 7
m/s in turbulent conditions must be taken into account, and the
speed of current varies alternatively on the surface and in
depth. Sedimentologists such as Hjulstrom and
Lichstvan-Lebedev[5], have determined experimentally the
critical speed of deposit of particles of distinct sizes. In
flood conditions the capacity of sedimentary transport is very
high, and the variation of speed at each point when it becomes
critical causes the sedimentation of quantities of particles of
distinct sizes, so that the grading observed in calm water
becomes strata of several centimeters thickness in turbulent
conditions. In 2008 the journal Sedimentology published an
article on the tsunami that struck South-East Asia in 2004 with
photos of the deposits left in its wake after several hours.
Super- posed strata are shown 20 cm thick.
It was now necessary to study stratification in the laboratory.
A report by a group of American sedimentologists operating in
the hydraulics laboratory of the State University of Colorado
showed the presence of strata in the deposit of a circulating
flume. I visited the University and signed a contract to
determine the cause of the strata. The experiments were
performed by a young member of the group Pierre Julien,
Professor of hydraulics and sedimentology. In a flume, the water
was mixed with sand. The large particles were colored black and
the small white. The mixture was circulated by a pump. Due to
the contrast of color in the particles, stratification in the
sedimentary deposit can be observed. It developed laterally in
the direction of the current, and vertically as it thickened.
The deposit was laminated and stratified. A lateral section of
the deposit shows a superposition of strata several centimeters
thick as shown in the photos below. The report of the above
experiment was published in 1993 by the Geological Society of
France[6].
Figure 3. Sedimentary structures of sedimentary deposits of the
river “East Bijou” in 1965.
a – alternate strata of sand and muddy sand. – b –
Stratification of deposits
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Figure-3.-%E2%80%93-<br
/>Sedimentary-structures-of-sedimentary-deposits-of-the-river-30
0x103.png
Figure 4. Formation of graded layers
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-3-Results-of-<br
/>experiments-300x224.gif
Figure 5 – Transversal section of the deposit
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-4-Typical-cross-<br
/>sectional-view-of-deposit-300x200.jpg
Figure 6 - Longitudinal view of the deposit
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-2-Typical-<br
/>longitudinal-view-of-deposition-flow-from-right-to-left-300x19
9.jpg
This new data questions Stenon’s interpretation by which a
relative chronology on the basis of strata could be constructed
according to his three principles. To elaborate a chronology
one has to refer to the cause being rising and falling marine
movements which deposit stratified ensembles called sequences. A
growing number of sedimentologists and geologists are adopting
the sequential stratigraphic method of reasoning. However they
must go further as will be shown.
At the beginning of the years 2000 the time had come to apply
the knowledge learned from the experiments and completed by
other sources on the terrain. Providentially, during a trip to
Moscow at that time I met a young geologist Alexander Lalomov
who had taken a great interest in my published work. Thanks to
him, I was able to have published in 2002 the report of our
experiments in the USA in the Academy of Sciences and Institute
of Geology in Russia under the heading of Analysis of the main
principles of stratigraphy on the basis of experimental data[7].
In 2004 the same journal published my article Sedimentological
Interpretation of the Tonto Group[8] explaining the fact that
the facies of a geological series were superposed and
juxtaposed at the same time in the area of deposit due to the
sediments carried by the current. This studies were also
published in China.[9]
Alexander Lalomov determined the hydraulic and sedimentary
genesis of rock formations in several regions in Russia. The
most decisive of his works was to determine the time needed for
a rock formation to be deposited, such as the
cambrian-ordovician sandstone system of the Saint-Petersburg
region[10].
Sedimentary mechanics evaluates from the critical speed of
paleocurrents and function of particle size, the capacity of
sedimentary transport and its speed. The quotient of the volume
of the rock formation studied by its capacity, per unit of time
and volume, indicates the time of the corresponding
sedimentation. This method is applied by a number of
sedimentologists amongst which I would cite H. A. Einstein. The
time ascertained by this method applied to the
cambrian-ordovician sandstone system mentioned above represents
0.05 per cent of the time attributed to it by the geological
time-scale. The report of the study was published in 2011 by
Lithology and Mineral Resources, journal of the Academy of
Sciences and the Institute of Geology of Russia.[11] According
to Alexandre Lalomov, the paleohydraulic conditions often have
a catastrophic appearance.
Golovkinskii (Kazan 1868) on the rocks and Walther on marine
sediments established that : Only facies and facies areas
juxtaposed on the surface could have been superposed
originally[12]. As explained in my 2002 publication the
superposed and juxtaposed facies constitute a sequence
resulting from a marine transgression or regression. A
succession of sequences included between a transgression and a
final regression is a « series ». The data from sequence
stratigraphy, and the experiments mentioned above, show that a
series corresponds to a period. Consequently the sequence must
be considered as the basic reference to relative chronology,
rather than « stage ».
Today, sedimentologists, according to their sub-marine
observations and laboratory experiments have established
relationships between hydraulic conditions, depth and size of
particles. This enables the critical speed of transport below
which a particle of a given size will sediment to be
determined. The Russian Hydraulics Institute is undertaking at
my request an experimental program of erosion of sedimentary
rocks by powerful currents (v < 27m/s) to complete these
relations[13]. Others should follow.
Relevant publications and videos are included on my website
www.sedimentology.fr
In consequence the geological time-scale is called into
question. It should hence- forward be founded relatively not
upon superposition of strata, but their origin which implies
gravitational action for formation of laminæ, and a turbulent
current for strata and superposed and juxtaposed facies of
sequences.
As to the absolute time of the foliated strata observed by Lyell
and assumed to be annual deposits, they are principally laminæ,
which as shown by experiment provide no absolute time. The same
applies to the 240 million years chronology based upon
biological revolutions which Prof. Gohau called an unproven «
uniformitarian hypothesis. Professor Gabriel Gohau, said in his
book “An history of Geology” (1990)[14]“What measures time is
the duration of sedimentation, and not orogenesis or biological
revolutions”. This leads to radiometric dating of rocks. The
method is no longer viable because of the radioactivity which
existed in the magma before it erupted. In a rock sample the
respective related parent and daughter radio- active elements
produced in the liquid magma were separated. Because of the
effect of gravity, it is unlikely the elements would remain
together for a ratio to be determined. An example is the
potassium/ argon dating of rocks resulting from volcanic
eruptions whose historic date are known[15]. The radiometric
date for the origin of the rock, because of the excess argon is
sometimes given in millions of years.
Christian Marchal of ONERA, a polytechnician colleague,
published in 1996 a study on the subject in Bulletin du Museum
d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris (completed by an “erratum” in
Geodiversitas – 1997). It was entitled: Earth’s polar
displacements of large amplitude : a possible mechanism[16],
and showed that the uplift of a large mountain mass such as the
Himalayas would modify by several millionths the moment of the
Earth’s inertia, sufficient to displace by several tens of
degrees the stable equilibrium position of the poles. This
published study stated specifically that large transgressions
and regressions would result from the combined effect of the
displacement of the poles and the Earth’s rotation large
transgressions of the ocean Their amplitude would be much
greater than ocean level variations due to glaciation or
melting glaciers following cyclical variations of the orbital
parameters of the Earth.. In addition to the data of
paleo-hydraulic analysis, this could explain, the existences of
extensive flood conditions in the geological past rather than
attributing them to falling meteorites. As stated in the
Bulletin, the North Pole, at Eocene, before the Himalayan
orogenesis, was at the mouth of the Siberian River Yenissei, at
72 degrees of north latitude. After the orogenesis, it was
nearly at its present position following a movement of 18°. The
direction of marine transgressions and regressions following
each of the 19 orogenesis since the beginning of the Primary
era corresponds to the succession of sequence facies, such as
sandstone, clay, schist, limestone. An example is the Tonto
Group, in the Cambrian. It proceeds from the Cadomian
orogenesis at the beginning of the Cambrian, and results, from
the transgression of the Pacific Ocean up to New Mexico. Other
directions can be ascertained from other orogeneses which
occurred elsewhere on the Earth.
Contemporaneous submarine fauna varies according to depth,
latitude, and longitude. The apparent change of fossilized
marine organisms from one series to another following an
orogenesis, could result from different fauna transported by
current from different areas caused by successive orogeneses.
What has been attributed to a biological change could,
therefore, be ecological in nature due to fauna coming from
different orogeneses and taking into account the shorter period
of sedimentation it now discloses.
It should be noted that in recent times collagen, organic tissue
has been found in dinosaur fossils and radiometrically dated as
forty-thousand years. According to the geological time-scale
dinosaurs are said to have become extinct 65 million years ago.
The conclusion of this section on geology is that a relation can
be established between cause and effect. Orogenesis, which is
the uprising of mountains contingent upon volcanic
eruptions[17], is the cause of polar rotational axis
displacements. This provokes marine series and creates deposits
of sedimentary rocks. The duration of these deposits being much
more rapid than the time indicated by the geological time-scale
shows the need for a revision of the latter.
The causal relation between orogenesis and sedimentary rocks,
was the subject of my two recent publications. The «
Georesources » journal of the University of Kazan, in December
2012[18]. and ”Open Journal of Geology, at the ”International
Conference of Geology and Geophysics”, in Peking, in June 2013,
October 2014[19] at the Kazan geological conference; it has
also been presented at the Moscow lithological conference in
October 2015 by an American geological engineer Rachel Dilly.
In light of the above facts, what remains of Darwin’s theory and
the aforementioned ideologies it engendered?
Conclusion.
The impact of a priori science and its disastrous consequences
for humanity calls for objective analysis of science based upon
observed fact. Scientific theories in education which could
mislead the human spirit in search for truth should conform to
experimental proof.
Recent centuries illustrate the situation. Copernicus and
Galileo asserted without proof that the sun was the center of
the world. If they had limited themselves to hypothesizing, as
Cardinal Bellarmine had pro- posed, they would not been
condemned by the Holy Office and thereby the mobility of the
Earth would have remained a permissible theory. There would not
have been a bad feelings against the Church.
In the same way if Descartes had stayed with the facts, he could
not have based his judgements solely on clear and distinct
persuasive ideas, which originally had led Steno to his a
priori principles and Newton to his inexact definitions without
prior proof. It was in this way that Descartes had originated
the Philosophy of Enlightenment which with notoriously
anti-religious Voltaire led to the revolution in 1789, the fall
of the Bourbon monarchy replaced by Napoleon I, later Napoleon
III and the ensuing wars. Objectively speaking, these wars ought
not to have happened.
Moreover, without historical geology founded upon an incorrect a
priori Darwin could not have been led to write his “Origin of
the Species”, postulating survival of the fittest between
species, upon which Marx and Engels based their “class
struggle” theory. Thereby leaving Stalin a seminarist and Hitler
a house decorator and thus avoiding the Second World War. Their
« a priories » having been exposed, the aforementioned
disasters are circumvented.
History cannot be re-made. However, by applying objectivity, it
should be possible to return to its previous path from a
scientific, political, moral and spiritual point of view.
Conclusion: The disastrous consequences of « a priories » in the
natural sciences would probably not have happened if the
sciences concerned had been founded on purely observed and
experimental facts. This knowledge should help man in his
search for truth. It appears all the more necessary in the
critical situation in which we are living.
_________________________________
[1] N. Stenon and N. Stensen, “Canis Carchariae Dissectum Caput,
KIU” Aus., lat. u. engl. The earliest geological treatise,
1667.
[2] B.G. Sedimentology, “Experiments on Lamination of Sediments,
Resulting from a Periodic Graded-Bedding Subsequent to
Deposit”, compte-rendu de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, t.
303, Série ii, No. 17, 1986.
[3] G. Berthault, “Sedimentation of a Heterogranular Mixture.
Experimental Lamination in Still and Running Water”, Compte-
rendu de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, t. 306, Série ii,
1988, pp. 717-724.
[4] E.D. McKee, E.J. Crosby, H.L. Berryhill Jr, “Flood Deposits,
Bijou Creek, Colorado, June 1965”, Journal of Sedimentary
Petrology, Vol. 37, No. 3, 1967, pp. 829-851.
[5] Lischtvan-Lebediev, “Gidrologia i gidraulika v mostovom
doroshnom. Straitielvie”, Leningrad, 1959
[6] F.Y. Julien and L.Y., Berthault G., “Experiments on
Stratification of Heterogeneous Sand Mixtures”, Bul- letin de
la Société Géologique de France, 1993, Vol. 164. No. 5, pp
649-660.
[7] G. Berthault, “Analysis of Main Principles of Stratigraphy”,
Lithology and Mineral Resources, Vol. 37, No. 5, 2002, pp. 509-
515. doi : 10.1023/A:1020220232661.
[8] G. Berthault, “Sedimentological Interpretation of the Tonto
Group Stratigraphy, Grand Canyon Colorado River”, Lithology and
Mineral Resources, Vol. 39, No. 5, 2004, pp. 504-508, doi :
10.1023/B : LIMI. 0000040737.85572.4c.
[9] G. Berthault, “Geological Dating Principles Questioned
Paleohydraulics a New Approach”, Journal of Geodesy and
Geodynamics, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2002, pp. 19-26.
[10] A. Lalomov, “Reconstruction of Paleohydrodynamic Conditions
during the Formation of Upper Jurassic Conglomerates of the
Crimean Peninsula”, Lithology and Mineral Resources, Vol. 42,
No. 3, 2007, pp. 268-280. doi : 10.1134/S0024490207030066.
[11] G. Berthault, A. Lalomov and M.A. Tugarova, “Reconstruction
of Paleolithodynamic Formation Conditions of Cambrian-
Ordovician Sandstones in the Northwestern Russian Platform”
Lithology and Mineral Resources, Vol. 46, No. 1, 2011, pp. 60-
70. doi : 10.1134/S0024490211010020.
[12] G.V. Middleton, “Johannes Walther’s law of the correlation
of facies”, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 1973,
Geological Soc America.
[13] G. Berthault, A.L. Veksler, V.M. Donenberg and A. Lalomov,
“Research on Erosion of Consolidated and Semi-Consolidated
Soils by High Speed Water Flow”, Izvestia VMG, Vol. 257, 2010,
pp. 10-22.
[14] G. Gohau, “Une histoire de la géologie”, Paris, Seuil,
P.277. 1990.
[15] J.C. Funkhauser and J.J. Naughton, “Radiogenic helium and
argon in ultramafic inclusions from Hawaï“, Journal of
Geological Research, Vol. 73, 15/07/1968, pp. 4601-4607.
[16] C. Marchal, “Earth’s Polar Displacements of Large
Amplitude. A Possible Mechanism”, Bulletin du Muséum National
d’Histoire Naturelle. Paris.4th, 18, Errata Geodiversitas, Vol.
19, No. 1, 1997, p. 139.
[17] M.R. Rampino and A. Prokoph, “Are Mantle Plumes Periodic ?”
EOS Transactions American Geophysi- cal Union, Vol. 94, No. 12,
2013, pp. 113-120, doi : 10.1002/2013EO120001.
[18] G. Berthault, “Towards a Refoundation of Historical
Geology”, Georesources, 2012, pp. 4-36.
[19] G. Berthault, “Orogenesis, cause of sedimentary
formations”, Open Journal of Geology, Vol.3, 2013, pp. 22-24.
---
Introduction
Stenon was the founder of stratigraphy. It was in 1667 that he
introduced in his work Canis Calchariae the postulate: layers
of sub-soil are ‘strata’ of ancient successive ‘sediments’.
From this partial interpretation, Stenon drew three initial
principles of stratigraphy formulated in his work Prodromus
(1669).
(1) Principle of superposition
At the time when one of the high stratum formed, the stratum
underneath it had already acquired a solid consistency. At the
time when any stratum formed, the superincumbent material was
entirely fluid, and due to this fact at the time when the
lowest stratum formed, none of the superior strata existed.
(2) Principle of continuity
Strata owe their existence to sediments in a fluid. At the time
when any stratum formed, either it was circumscribed on its
sides by another solid body, or else it ran round the globe of
the earth.
(3) Principle of original horizontality
At the time when any stratum formed, its lower surface, as also
the surfaces of its sides, corresponded with the surfaces of
the subjacent body, and lateral bodies, but its upper surface
was (then) parallel to the horizon, as far as it was possible.
The sedimentological model corresponding to these three
principles is, therefore, the following. In a fluid covering
the Earth, except for emerged land, a precipitate deposits
strata after strata, covering all the submerged Earth
[ANIMATION 1]. After the deposition of each stratum, the
sedimentation is interrupted for the time it takes for the
stratum to acquire a solid consistence. The stratum being
contained between two parallel planes indicates that the
sedimentation rate of the precipitate is uniform around the
submerged Earth.
Animation 1 (no sound)
youtu.be/WFFrtWsEV9s
Stenon’s assertion relies solely upon observation of stratified
rocks and the superposition of strata, independently of data
from the sedimentological process. This process is composed of
three phases: erosion, transport and deposition of sediments,
the liquid current being the vector of transport. Stenon’s
stratigraphy only took account the third phase of
sedimentology, i.e., the deposition, assuming implicitly a nil
velocity of current.
Fig. 1 : Grand Canyon in North Arizona,an example of
stratification>>> Problems
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/GrandCanyon_Ljpg.jpg
---
Problems
Problems of the Stenon’s stratigraphy
This model based upon a postulate, which takes into account only
one particular case of sedimentation – the absence of current,
implying succession of time on a global scale, according to the
vertical sequence of strata is not in accordance with
experimental and field investigations.
The first part of the definition of the principle of
superposition is: At the time when one of the highest stratum
formed, the stratum underneath it had already acquired a solid
consistence. A stratum between 50 cm and 1 m is considered
thick. Consequently, submarine drillings should encounter solid
strata in the stratified oceanic sediments after a few meters.
The results of sea bottom drilling showed that the first
semi-consolidated sediments appeared about 400-800 metres (in
depth). The isolated instances of certain beds of chert
(siliceous beds) have been found under 135 metres of sediment
near the zones of the oceanic transform faults (Logvinenko,
1980). Stenon’s definition, therefore, relative to successive
hardening, which extends greatly the total length of time of
deposition, is not supported by the sedimentological
observations mentioned above.
Animation 1 (no sound)
youtu.be/S5KjPouuZ5M
No sedimentary layer goes all around the Earth. Seismic readings
and sub-marine coring demonstrate that the strata in ocean
deposits are not always horizontal and the rate of
sedimentation is not uniform on a global scale of the Earth’s
oceans.
In the first part of the definition for the principle of
continuity Stenon affirms that: Strata owe their existence to
sediments in a fluid.
Stenon says nothing about the action of the fluid on sediments,
so that the relative stratigraphic chronology resulting from
his principles did not take it into account (the two later
principles of paleontological identity and uniformitarianism
changed nothing in this respect). Currents exist in present day
oceans, which erode, transport, and deposit sediments, as shown
by Straknov in 1957. Geologists have attributed the change in
orientation of stratification and erosion surfaces in
sedimentary rocks to marine transgressions and regressions.
This is the object of study in sequence stratigraphy today.
Diagrams in this latter discipline, however, give no indication
of the current velocity of these transgressions and
regressions, only variations in the level of the oceans.
Detrital sedimentary rocks alone (resulting from mechanical
desegregation) would have required a minimum current to
transport the particles from where they were eroded to their
sedimentation site.
Charles Lyell added a principle of uniformitarianism, giving as
an example layers deposited in fresh water in Auvergne.
Observing that the layers were less than 1 mm thick, he
considered that each one was laid down annually. At this rate,
the 230- m-thick deposit would have taken hundreds of thousands
of years to form. In the next section I show that these layers,
which are laminae, do not always corresponded to annual
deposits and may be generated in a time interval much less that
the modern geological time-scale indicates.
---
Experiments & Videos
Major stages of the laboratory research
Two principal stages of the program dwelt upon the following two
lines of research: lamination (Fig. 1) and stratification
(Figs. 2, 3).
Fig. 1 : Lamination resulting from sediment flowing into water
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-1-Lamination-<br
/>resulting-229x300.jpg
(1) Lamination
The following abstract of my paper (Berthault, 1986) provided
the basis of my research on the deposit of heterogranular
sediments in water, with and without a current :
These sedimentation experiments have been conducted in still
water with a continuous supply of heterogranular material. A
deposit is obtained, giving the illusion of successive beds or
laminae (Fig. 1). These laminae are the result of a spontaneous
periodic and continuous grading process, which takes place
immediately, following the deposition of the heterogranular
mixture. The thickness of the laminae appears to be independent
of the sedimentation rate but increases with extreme
differences in the particle size in the mixture. Where a
horizontal current is involved, thin laminated layers
developing laterally in the direction of the current are
observed.
Video 1 : lamination (no sound)
youtu.be/IqveoS7ROSk
The second series were performed at the Marseilles Institute of
Fluid Mechanics.
The experiments demonstrate that in still water, continuous
deposition of heterogranular sediments gives rise to laminae,
which disappear progressively as the height of the fall of
particles into water (and apparently their size) increases.
Laminae follow the slope of the upper part of the deposit. In
running water, many closely related types of lamination appear
in the deposit, even superposed (Berthault, 1988).
(2) Stratification
Experiments in stratification were conducted in the Fort Collins
hydraulics laboratory of the Colorado State University with
professor of hydraulics and sedimentology Pierre Julien [video
2 : Fort Collins hydraulics laboratory].
Video 2 : Fort Collins hydraulics laboratory (no sound)
youtu.be/52M55SB-8U0
For these, it was necessary to operate with water in a
recirculating flume traversed by a current laden with sediment.
As Hjulstrom (1935) and his successors had defined the critical
sedimentation rate for each particle size, the current velocity
would need to be varied. By modulating the current velocity, a
superposition of segregated particles could be obtained.
The flume experiment showed that in the presence of a variable
current, stratified superposed beds prograde simultaneously in
the direction of the current (Fig. 2) [video 3 ].
Video 3 (no sound)
youtu.be/nUz_aS5ipGY
The result, on the scale of strata, is also conform, on the
scale of facies [video 4 ] to Golovkinskii, Inostranzev and
Walther’s law (Walther, 1894 ; Middleton, 1973; Romanovskii,
1988), according to which the extension of facies of the same
sequence is the same both laterally and vertically [video 5 ].
Video 4 (no sound)
youtu.be/Ritn0iqJTAU
Video 5 (no sound)
youtu.be/weDhODM6J1o
Fig. 2. Typical longitudinal view of deposition (flow from right
to left).
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-2-Typical-<br
/>longitudinal-view-of-deposition-flow-from-right-to-left.jpg
The report of the experiment entitled Experiments in
Stratification of Heterogeneous Sand Mixtures was published in
(Julien et al., 1993).
This experimental study examines possible stratification of
heterogeneous sand mixtures under continuous (non-periodic and
non-interrupted) sedimentation. Three primary aspects of
stratification are considered: lamination, graded beds, and
joints.
(1) Experiments on segregation of eleven heterogeneous mixtures
of sand-sized quartz, limestone and coal demonstrate that
through lateral motion, fine particles fall between interstices
of the rolling coarse particles. Coarse particles gradually
roll on top of fine particles and microscale sorting is
obtained. Microscale segregation similar to lamination is
observed on plane surfaces, as well as under continuous
settling in columns filled with either air or water.
Fig. 3. Results of experiments.
(A) Schematic formation of graded beds.
(B) Time sequence of deposit formation for t 1 < t 2 < t 3.
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-3-Results-of-<br
/>experiments.gif
(2) The formation of graded beds is examined in a laboratory
flume under steady flow and a continuous supply of
heterogeneous particles. Under steady uniform flow and plane
bed with sediment motion, coarse particles of the mixture roll
on a laminated bed of mostly fine particles. In non-uniform
flow, the velocity decrease caused by tail-gate induces the
formation of a stratum of coarse particles propagating in the
downstream direction. On top of this cross-stratified bed, fine
particles settle through the moving bed layer of rolling coarse
particles and form an almost horizontally laminated topset
stratum of finer particles. A thick stratum of coarse particles
thus progresses downstream between two strata of laminated fine
particles, continuously pro-grading upward and downstream
Video 6 (no sound)
youtu.be/f_BIK-bnm5c
Video 7 (no sound)
youtu.be/6I26PjTwxWY
(3) Laboratory experiments on the desiccation of natural sands
also show preferential fracturing (or joints) of crusty
deposits at the interface between strata of coarse and fine
particles.
Rather than successive sedimentary layers, these experiments
demonstrate that stratification under a continuous supply of
heterogeneous sandy mixtures results from segregation for
lamination, non-uniform flow for graded beds (Fig. 4)
Superposed strata are not, therefore, necessarily identical to
successive sedimentary layers.
Video 8 (no sound)
youtu.be/WaSGX_SNUUg
Video 9 (no sound)
youtu.be/G14n8SDVLAw
Video 10 (no sound)
youtu.be/CD4pERKsl0U
Fig. 4. : Typical cross-sectional view of deposit
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-4-Typical-cross-<br
/>sectional-view-of-deposit-1024x682.jpg
Fig. 5 : Horizontal fracturing of the Bijon Creek sand
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-5-Horizontal-<br
/>fracturing-of-the-Bijon-Creek-sand-1024x676.jpg
Our flume experiments demonstrated that Stenon’s assumption
(strata are ancient successive sediments) and his principle of
superposition can only apply in the absence of a current
(transport velocity nil). Moreover, the experiments reported in
my second paper to the Academy of Sciences and experiments
conducted by P. Julien and presented by video Fundamental
Experiments on Stratificationat several sedimentological
congresses clearly show that up to the limit of the angle of
repose (30o to 40o for the sands), the lamination of the deposit
is parallel to the slope (Fig. 6)
. In this case the principle of horizontxality does not apply.
It should not, therefore, be concluded that the dip of the
strata necessarily implies tectonic movements subsequent to the
horizontal deposit of the strata.
Video 11 (no sound)
youtu.be/XRgtMQ2AcG0
Fig. 6 : Lamination parallel to a slope of 15o
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-6-Lamination-<br
/>parallel-to-a-slope-of-15.jpg
Fundamental Experiments in Stratification – Full video
HTML https://vimeo.com/8779461
A presentation for a more general public – Full video
HTML https://vimeo.com/8768065
---
Paleohydraulic Analysis
Paleohydraulic conditions
Analysis of the main principles of stratigraphy on the basis of
experimental data is necessary to determine the hydraulic
conditions that existed when the sediments, which have become
rocks, were deposited.
In this respect, the relation between hydraulic conditions and
configuration of deposits (submarine ripples and dunes and
horizontal beds) of contemporary deposits have been the object,
especially recently, of well-known observations and
experimentation. Examples are works of Rubin (Rubin and
McCulloch, 1980) (Fig. 7) in a sea environment (San Francisco
Bay) and Southard (Southard and Boguchwal, 1990) (flume
experiments).
Fig. 7. Graphs of (a) water depth vs. sand-wave height and (b)
water depth vs. water velocity, showing bedforms in fine sand
expected under different water conditions. The thickness of
cross beds observed in fine-grained sandstone is used to
estimate sand-wave height. Then, sand-wave height is entered
into the graph (a) to estimate the water depth where the sand
wave formed. After a water depth is estimated on graph (a), the
depth is transferred to graph (b), where the minimum and
maximum velocities of water are indicated for the specific water
depth.
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Fig-7-Graphs-of-a-<br
/>water-depth-vs-sand-wave-height-and-b-water-depth-vs-water-vel
ocity1.jpg
Meanwhile, Hjulstrom and his successors (Hjulstrom, 1935;
Lebedev, 1959; Neill, 1968; Levi, 1981; Maizels, 1983; Van
Rijn, 1984; Maza, Flores, 1997) have determined a minimum
velocity of erosion and sedimentation for each particle size at
a given depth (table).
These relations can be applied particularly to detrital rocks,
such as sandstone, the first stage of a transgressive marine
sequence resulting from a process of erosion, transport,
sedimentation, driven by an initially erosive powerful current
in shallow water. The competence, i.e., the paleovelocity of
current below which particles of a given size deposit, and the
corresponding capacity of sedimentary transport of the current
can be determined. These two criteria determine the time for
sequence to deposit.
When the transgression reached its maximum depth and
correlatively the velocity of current tended toward zero, the
finest particles, transported initially by the transgressive
current, precipitated at known fall velocities and eventually by
flocculation [video 1 ]. It is, therefore possible, not only to
appreciate the time the particles took to fall but, based on
the capacity, to evaluate the time taken for the sediment to
precipitate. Such data would, of course, only be minimum, but
it would nevertheless give access to knowledge of the genesis of
sedimentation.
Table. Maxima permissible velocities or non-erosive for
non-cohesive grounds, in m/s (selon Lischtvan–Lebediev)
video 1 (no sound)
youtu.be/MHPZ0pnPmHs
V Average diameter of particles, in mm
....... Average flow depth, in m
0.40
–
0.005
0.05
0.25
1
2.5
5
10
15
25
40
75
100
150
200
300
400
>500
---
Time of Sedimentation
A team of Russian sedimentologists, directed by Alexander
Lalomov (Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Ore
Deposits) applied paleohydraulic analyses to geological
formations in Russia. One example was the publication of a first
report in 2007 by the “Lithology and Mineral Resources”,
journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It concerned the
Crimean Peninsular. It showed that the time of sedimentation of
the sequence studied corresponded to a virtually instantaneous
episode, whereas according to stratigraphy it took several
millions of years. Moreover, a second report concerning the
North-West Russian plateau in the St. Petersburg region shows
that the time of sedimentation was much shorter than that
attributed to it by the stratigraphic time-scale: 0.05% of the
time.
The third report concerning the the Ural determines equally the
time of sedimentation.
I concluded an agreement with the Institute of Kazan for the
Moskovite team of sedimentologists to determine the
paleohydraulic conditions of the local transgressive sequence
studied in 1868 by Golovkinskii, founder of sequence
stratigraphy.
This forth report determines equally the time of sedimentation.
We presented their report to the 33rd International Congress of
Geology held in Oslo in August 2008, and in Ekaterinburg
(Russia), in October at the 5th Conference on Lithology.
A new series of experiments was arranged with the St.
Petersburg Institute of Hydrology to study erosion of different
types of rocks (sandstone, limestone) at higher velocities of
water current up to 27m\s to ascertain their rate of erosion
over time and to provide the formation of conglomerates, to know
the critical velocity of erosion of conglomerates seen in
sandstone at the base of transgressive sequences. Initially,
the water current was parallel to the surface plane of the
sedimentary sample. The results show that at a velocity of
around 25m \s, erosion was nil; where the period of the
experiment was less than an hour. However, when the period
reached 18h the erosion was around 2 grams. Experiment 25 was
done with a sample whose surface was at an angle of 2.5 degrees
to the direction of the current. In this case erosion reached
6.6g. in 18h.
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Here-is-an-extract-<br
/>of-the-pre-report-of-the-Institute-of-Hydrology.jpg
---
Conclusions
Conclusion
The dating principles determined in the 17th century by an
anatomy professor of Copenhagen University, Stenon (Molyavko et
al., 1985), upon which the geological time-scale is founded
should be re-examined and supplemented.
The most probable way of determining the genesis of sedimentary
rocks is, first, to identify cycles of transgressive-regressive
sequences by sequence stratigraphy. The results of our flume
experiments are relevant in this connection. They show that in
the presence of a current, strata in a sequence are not
successive. Change of orientation in stratification, or erosion
surfaces between facies of the same sequence, or between
superposed sequences can result from a variation in the
velocity of an uninterrupted current. Bed plane partings
separating facies or sequences can result from desiccation
following the withdrawal of water.
Having established the sequences of cycles, their paleohydraulic
conditions must be determined. These would be minimum
conditions, because it is possible that certain cycles,
resulting from tectonic processes, attained an amplitude beyond
anything comparable today.
Given the paleohydraulic conditions,the sediment transport
capacity by unit of volume and time,can be determined in
reference to sedimentary mechanics. Consequently,the time of
sedimentation of a sequence is the quotient of the volume of
the sequence by the sediment transport capacity. For the
sequence of St.Petersburg region, this time represents only
0.05% of the time attributed by the geologic time-scale.
Knowledge of paleohydraulic conditions should help to determine
better the paleo- ecological zones (depth and site) of the
species which, as with the sediments, were dragged along by the
currents. It might also provide a better explanation of the
layering of fossil zones in the sediments of sedimentary basins.
By calling into question the principles and methods, upon which
geological dates are founded, and in proposing the new approach
of paleohydraulogy, I hope to open a dialogue with specialists
in the disciplines concerned, who are able to appreciate the
implications, and propose a geological chronology in conformity
with experimental observation.
---
Addendum
Exxon Systematics
A further contradiction of Stenon’s principles of stratigraphy
can be seen in sequence stratigraphy, for instance, by
examining the EXXON SYSTEMATICS diagrams (Stranded
parasequences and the forced regressive wedge systems tract :
deposition during base-level fall , Hunt & Tucker – 1992,
Sediment. Geol., 81:1-9).
HTML http://efficalis.com/sedimentology/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Exxon-Systematics.jpg
In the upper diagram 1. STRATAL PATTERNS, LSW consist of two
superposed facies (shelf margin and foreslope facies). In the
lower diagram 2. CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY, each of the five
horizontal lines in LSW, which are isochrones relating to the
vertical geological time scale on the right of the diagram, and
correspond to the five positions of the slope in the upper
diagram, cut across the two facies. This indicates a
simultaneous deposition of the two facies, which is in
contradiction to Steno’s principle of superposition, when the
lowest stratum formed, none of the superior strata existed,
here applied to superposed facies.
***
Apart from sedimentology, there are two other important subjects
which I think are relevent.
Radiometric Dating
The second concerns radiometric dating. Brent Dalrymple, a
leading specialist in K/Ar dating has given examples of several
volcanoes where the year of eruption is historically known and
where the K/Ar dating is completely divergent.
In 1996 American Geologist Steven Austin agreed to use this
method to date the late eruption of Mt. St. Helens which
occurred in 1986. He took a sample of the dacite from the cone
of the eruption, reduced part of it to its component parts and
sent them, together with the whole-rock, to an American
laboratory for dating. The results were published by CEN Tech.
J. , vol. 10, n3, 1996 :
---
Papers
Please note that some of these documents are scans of the
original and may take long to download.
Dilly, R., Berthault, G.: “Orogenesis: Cause of sedimentary
formations” – The Russian Academy of Sciences scientific Council
on Lithology and Minerals in Sedimentary Formations – VIII
All-Russian Lithological Meeting (Moscow, 27-30 October 2015),
Tome II, pp. 162-164
Berthault, G. : “Orogenesis: Cause of sedimentary formations” –
Kazan Golovkinsy Stratigraphic Meeting, 2014, pp.19-20
Lalomov, A., Berthault G., Tugarova, M., Isotov V., Sitdikova
L.: “Reconstruction of sedimentary conditions of Middle Permian
Kama-Ural basin studied by N.A.Golovkinsky” – Kazan Golovkinsy
Stratigraphic Meeting, 2014, pp.53-54
Berthault, G. : “Orogenesis: cause of sedimentary formations” –
“Open Journal of Geology“ ISSN 2161-7570.Vol 3, Number 28, April
2013.
Berthault G. : “Towards a Refoundation of Historical Geology” –
“Georesources” 1(12) 2012, p.38, 39
Berthault, G., Lalomov, A. V. and Tugarova, M. A. :
“Reconstruction of paleolithodynamic formation conditions of
Cambrian-Ordovician sandstones in the Northwestern Russian
platform” – “Lithology and Mineral Resources, 2011, Volume 46,
Number 1, 60-70” (Springer Publishing site)
Berthault, G., Veksler A.B., Donenberg V.M. , Lalomov A. :
“RESEARCH on EROSION OF CONSOLIDATED and semi-consolidated SOILS
BY HIGH SPEED WATER FLOW” Izvestia.VNIIG., 2010, Vol. 257,
pp.10-22. – (Russian original.)
Lalomov, A. : “Reconstruction of Paleohydrodynamic Conditions
during the Formation of Upper Jurassic Conglomerates of the
Crimean Peninsula”, Lithology and Mineral Resources, 2007, Vol.
42, No. 3, pp. 268–280
Berthault, G : “Sedimentological Interpretation of the Tonto
Group Stratigraphy (Grand Canyon Colorado River)” , Lithology
and Mineral Resources 2004, Vol. 39, No 5. October 2004.
Berthault G., “Analysis of Main Principles of Stratigraphy on
the Basis of Experimental Data”, Litol.Polezn.Iskop.2002, vol
37, no.5,pp 509-515 (Lithology and Mineral resources 2002
(fac-similé) (Engl.Transl.), vol.37, no.5, pp442-446), Journal
of the Academy of Sciences of Russia.
Julien, P.Y., Lan, Y., and Berthault, G., “Experiments on
Stratification of Heterogeneous Sand Mixtures”, Bulletin Société
Géologique de France, 1993, vol. 164, no. 5, pp. 649–660.
Berthault, G., “Sedimentation of a Heterogranular Mixture.
Experimental Lamination in Still and Running Water”, Compte
rendu de l’Académie des Sciences 1988, vol. 306, Serie II, pp.
717–724.
Berthault, G., “Sedimentologie: Expériences sur la lamination
des sédiments par granoclassement périodique postérieur au
dépôt. Contribution a l’explication de la lamination dans nombre
de sédiments et de roches sédimentaires”., Compte rendu de
l’Académie des Sciences de Paris 1986 , vol. 303, Ser., 2, no.
17, pp. 1569-1574.
_______________________________
Lalomov, A. and Tugarova, M. A. : REPORT for 2008 joint research
of Geological Laboratory ARCTUR (Moscow) and Lithological
department of Geological Faculty of St.-Petersburg State
University “RECONSTRUCTION OF PALEOHYDRAULIC CONDITIONS OF
DEPOSITION OF PERMIAN STRATA OF KAMA REGION STUDIED BY
GOLOVKINSKY”
Lalomov, A. : FINAL REPORT for 2006 – 2007 joint research of
Geological Laboratory ARCTUR (Moscow) in co-operation with
Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits Russian Academy of Science
(IGEM RAS) and Research – Exploration Centre “Monitoring”
(Khanty–Mansiisk, West Siberia) – “PALEOCHANNELS OF URAL FOLDED
BELT AND PIEDMONT AREA: RECONSTRUCTION OF PALEOHYDRAULIC
CONDITIONS”
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